Someone Has to Start Somewhere

One day I went walking with a good acquaintance of mine. He is an upstanding gentleman with a director’s position in a large company. We sat down on one of the park benches to catch a few breaths. As we sat, my friend noticed that a young lady sitting on the bench opposite ours thoughtlessly threw onto the park footpath the little carton which had contained the powdered doughnuts she had just eaten.

He immediately stood up, went over to her, tipped his hat, and said, “Excuse me, please.” Then he bent down, picked up the carton and carried it to the trash bin.

The lady blushed, put the rest of her doughnuts in her carrying bag, stood up, and went on her way.

When my friend returned, somewhat irritated, he only said, “Somewhere, someone, sometime must start the process.

Joachim Wanke

About The Author

'Indian Thoughts' was founded on 3rd June 2004 and now it is one among the best online moral education services in the world. 'Indian Thoughts' is a non-profit Organization, managed by a group of devoted social workers from India. These inspiring stories are from its' rich archive of collections.

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One day I went walking with a good acquaintance of mine. He is an upstanding gentleman with a director’s position in a large company. We sat down on one of the park benches to catch a few breaths. As we sat, my friend noticed that a young lady sitting on the bench opposite ours thoughtlessly threw onto the park footpath the little carton which had contained the powdered doughnuts she had just eaten.

He immediately stood up, went over to her, tipped his hat, and said, “Excuse me, please.” Then he bent down, picked up the carton and carried it to the trash bin.

The lady blushed, put the rest of her doughnuts in her carrying bag, stood up, and went on her way.

When my friend returned, somewhat irritated, he only said, “Somewhere, someone, sometime must start the process.

Someone asked Bill Gates, Is there any person richer than you?
He said, yes, only one. Many years ago, I had been dismissal and I had gone to New York airport. I read titles of newspapers there. I liked one of them and I want to buy it. But I didn’t have change (coin). I abandoned, suddenly, a black boy called me and told, “This newspaper for you.” I said, but I don’t have change. He said, “No problem, I give you free”.
After 3 months, I went there. Coincidentally, that story happened again and that same boy gave another free newspaper again. I said, I can’t accept. But he said, “I give you from my profit.”
After 19 years, I had been rich and I decided to find that boy. I found him after one and half months searching. I asked him, do you know me? He said, “Yes, you’re famous Bill Gates.”
I said, you gave me free newspaper in 2 times many years ago. Now, I want to compensate it. I am going to give you everything that you want. Black young man replied, “You can’t compensate it!”
I said, why? He said, “Because I gave you when I was poor. You want to give me when you are rich. So, how do you compensate?”
Bill Gates said, I think that black young man is richer than me.
Reflection: You don’t have to be rich or wait to be rich to give.

Advaita Vedanta! The doctrine of Advaita Vedanta as expounded by Sankara can be summed up in half a verse: “Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah” — Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman. This is the quintessence of his philosophy. According to Sri Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference and plurality are illusory. Insights into Advaita Vedanta Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman.

The Atman is self-evident (Svatah-siddha). It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Atman, because It is very essence of the one who denies It. Brahman is not an object, as It is Adrisya, beyond the reach of senses, mind or intellect. It is not another. It is all-full, infinite, changeless, self-existent, self-delight, self-knowledge and self-bliss. It is Svarupa, essence. It is the essence of the knower. It is the Seer (Drashta), Transcendent (Turiya) and Silent Witness (Sakshi). It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as It is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside It.Sat-Chit-Ananda constitute the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The world is not an illusion according to Sankara. The world is relatively real (Vyavaharika Satta), while Brahman is absolutely real (Paramarthika Satta). The unchanging Brahman appears as the changing world because of a superimposition of non-Self (objects) on Self (subject – Brahman). This is called Avidya.

The Jiva or the individual soul is only relatively real. Its individuality lasts only so long as it is subject to unreal Upadhis or limiting conditions due to Avidya. The Jiva identifies itself with the body, mind and the senses, when it is deluded by Avidya or ignorance. Just as the bubble becomes one with the ocean when it bursts, so also the Jiva or the empirical self becomes one with Brahman when it gets knowledge of Brahman. When knowledge dawns in it through annihilation of Avidya, it is freed from its individuality and finitude and realizes its essential Satchidananda nature. It merges itself in the ocean of bliss. The river of life joins the ocean of existence. This is the Truth. Because samsara (or duality) exists due to ignorance or Avidya, Knowledge (Jnana) alone can make an individual realize his true nature. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga etc., are necessary only to purify the individual and to help remove this Avidya. All other paths culminate in Jnana. Brahma Jnana is not about acquiring any external knowledge (as Brahman can’t be an object of knowledge), it just about removing the Avidya or Maya.

Once I stayed in Madras for about a week with my family. We stayed in a guest house located on a beach near the sea, which added to the charm and pleasure of staying there. We had very pleasant morning walks along the mighty, surging sea, and its vastness touched our hearts. During our stay, I contemplated deeply on the nature of the sea and how it helps us to develop our own personality.

The first great quality of the sea is its vastness. It is so vast that the other shore of the sea is never seen by an ordinary person. We require magnitude in our personality too. Our vision should enlarge with our physical growth so that our personality becomes pleasant. An ordinary person may not think beyond himself, his family or a close social circle. Such vision needs further expansion and one should ultimately think of the whole creation. With such a vast vision, we start loving the whole creation of God and there is no room for lower tendencies like hatred, anger and jealousy.

The second quality of the sea is its depth. The vastness of the sea would be meaningless without its depth for this quality enables the sea to gain stability. Similarly, for the true development of our personality vast mundane knowledge is not sufficient as it may not give depth to our personality. This depth is acquired by developing wisdom which gives stability to our personality. The third quality to be learnt from the sea is ‘absorption’. It absorbs whatever is merged into it. All mighty
rivers ultimately merge into the sea and it accepts all of them. Not only this, these rivers carry away with them all the
filth created by human beings. The sea accepts that too. In turn it returns pure rainwater, retaining all the dirty water received by it. The sea water itself remains saltish though it is the ultimate source of all sweet water. This amounts to returning goodness in exchange for evil, a quality which should be part of the personality also, giving us mercy, kindness and compassion.

The last quality is ‘stability’ which can also be learnt from the sea. The sea level remains stable though universal forces cause some ups and downs in it periodically. That is why the Mean Sea Level is a standard benchmark and does not change with time. Similarly, our mental variations as a result of interaction with the world should also be to the minimum and the effort should be to maintain it at the same level. This little variation of sea level only indicates that as long we live in the world, absolute calmness may not be possible. That state can be achieved only when we firmly control our reactions and responses, both mentally and physically. However, while living in the world, stability can be maintained and the variation can be reduced to the minimum. This is the quality which brings serenity to our personality.

Thus four qualities of the sea, namely, vastness, depth, absorption and stability are to be adopted in our personality. If we can do so, we may be as useful for the society as the sea is to the entire creation on the earth.

Confucius was on a long journey to another country; he came upon two children seriously arguing between them. Confident of the vast knowledge he has, he asked them to tell him the reason of the quarrel.

“I proved,” said the first boy, “that the sun is near to us at daybreak and far away from us at noon.”

The second boy jumped in saying, “The sun is far away at dawn and nearby at midday.”

“When the sun first appears,” said the first boy, “it is as big as the canopy of a carriage, but at noon it is only the size of a plate or a bowl. Well, isn’t it true that objects far away seem smaller while those nearby seem bigger?”

“When the sun comes out,” pointed out the other boy, “it is very cool, but at midday it is as hot as putting your hand in boiling water. Well, isn’t it true that what is nearer to us is hotter and what is farther off is cooler?”

Confucius was unable to settle the matter for them. The two children laughed at him shouting, “Looks like a learned…but poorer than a beggar.”

The great learned, quite unmoved by these comments, walked on. He taught the world another piece of wisdom through just being silent, when he was very much asked to talk.

This story is told about Oliver Cromwell. He was sitting for an artist who was painting a full-length picture of him.

When the painting was complete, Cromwell looked at it, and saw that the painter had gone out of his way to make Cromwell more handsome than he actually was. For example, Cromwell had warts on his face, but the painter had opted to omit these. Cromwell would not accept the finished product. He insisted that the painter do one more portrait, only this time, he was ordered to paint Cromwell with “warts and all.” Though we don’t like the “warts and all” part of us, they are as much part of us – good as well as not so good.

Seeing and accepting oneself as he/she is would ward of resentment for ourselves and would provide the healthy outlook to better oneself.We could easily prefer the painter who can make us look better than we really are.

One day the great seeker Ramdas met the God-realised soul Tulsidas and prayed to him, “O great soul, do help me realise God. I have been praying and meditating for years and years, but still God-realisation is a far cry. Do help me realise God.”

Tulsidas said. “I shall not only help you to realise God, but I shall make you see God tomorrow”. Ramdas said, “Tomorrow? O great soul, perhaps you are cutting jokes with me. Am I fit for God-realisation?” “Yes, you are more than fit,” answered Tulsidas. “Tomorrow, God will come to you. Keep your house clean, prepare nice, delicious food for God and pray and meditate the whole day most soulfully. God will definitely come to you”.

The next day Ramdas brought many beautiful flowers to decorate his room and made a delicious meal for God. He remained soulful the whole day and prayed and meditated. But Oh God, the whole day passed, and there was no sign of God. Ramdas was lamenting like anything. “Why has God not come? How could such a great soul like Tulsidas deceive me? But there is no sign of God.”

All of a sudden Ramdas saw a buffalo standing near his door. He was so mad. “How could that buffalo come here? Where did it come from?” he said. The buffalo entered into his house and began eating the food and destroying the flowers. The animal ate many of the fruits which Ramdas had kept so devotedly for God. Ramdas was so furious that he took a stick and started beating the buffalo. But the buffalo just kept eating to its heart’s content and then ran away. “Is this my fate?” cried Ramdas. “I wanted God and instead a buffalo has to come and ruin everything. O Tulsidas, is this Our God? Tomorrow when I see you, I will give you a piece of my mind!” The next day he went to Tulsidas, but the God-realised soul was in a very high mood. For some time Ramdas did not dare to speak. Then Tulsidas said, “So, God came to you?” Ramdas said, “God came? A buffalo came!” “A buffalo?” asked Tulsidas. “Yes,” answered Ramdas. “It came and ruined everything.”
“You fool!” Tulsidas said. “It was not a buffalo. It was God in the form of a buffalo. He wanted to examine you to see if you had
established your oneness with his entire creation. If you had been in a very high consciousness, you would have seen and felt that it was not a buffalo but God Himself. God took the form of a buffalo and examined you. You have mistreated God so mercilessly that now it will take a very long time for you to realize God. So you may as well forget about God-realization”. Ramdas cried and cried before Tulsidas, “How could I have known God would take the form of a buffalo and thus play a trick on me?”

Tulsidas said, “Pray more soulfully, more devotedly, more unconditionally and more unreservedly. Then you will know everything: where God is and who God truly is.” Ramdas said, “From now on, I shall try to be worthy of one day receiving God in God’s own Way.”

It is said that a thousand words equal one picture and a thousand pictures equal one live example. Motivating by live examples had been the modes operandi of great visionaries who shone like bright lamps in darkness.
At a time in which positive thinking is replaced by positive attitude and hard work with smart work, right motivation is power.
Here, it is a simple guy from a simple background who has set an elite example of successfully chasing one’s goal.
I don’t know who helped Jothi Ranjan Bagarti (32) from Orissa to reach the impossible, practically for a security guard. IAS had been his goal in life; however, he could not make it in his first attempt ten years back. Even though he seemed to be quite content with his present family life, the fire within was not settled. His intense desire to reach, where he intended, was not extinguished; it kept on kicking from within.
For the last two years, he was working hard to get through all the rigid tests. Do you know what happened? Recently he has resigned from Cognizent Technologies and another fellow will occupy his chair at the gates, for this man is now in Mussoorie for the IAS training.

A great deal of our precious energy is wasted throughout life by worrying. This energy is not available for our constructive and creative life. Psychologists think that our worrying begins around the age of three. It can lead to many psychogenic and functional diseases such as ulcers, tension headaches, hypertension, panic and anxiety attacks. It negatively affects our immune system. Worry is a form of anxiety related to a future outcome. We have a desired outcome. But we do not know what is going to happen, and we have no control over it. The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebhur can be a remedy for worrying. The first part of it says: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference”. Nishkamakarmavruti (not being attached to the fruits of one’s actions) taught by Bhagwad Gita can also be of great help. Doing what one is supposed to do without being concerned about success or failure. Ignatius of Loyola, a great saint and the founder of the Jesuits, spoke about holy indifference in his Spiritual Exercises. He advised
his followers to have equanimity in short life or long life, in sickness or health, in poverty or wealth. Worry is related to our desires and expectations.
Gautam who became Siddhartha (seeker of realization) and finally Buddha (the enlightened one) stated that desiring what we cannot have or obtain leads to unhappiness (worry, anxiety, emotional pain). To eliminate unhappiness (worry) we need to stop desiring. But desiring not to desire is itself a desire. Therefore desire only what can be obtained: not any more, not any less. But how can that be achieved? Buddha proposes the eight fold path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The Prophet of Nazareth warns against
anxiety (worry) (Matthew 6, 25-34) asking us to seek always the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. He says that we will be given all that we need. He asks us to live in the here and now, and not to worry about the future.

I used to tell my clients to worry only if worrying helps them. And I cannot think of anyone who was helped by worrying. Philosophy from the trenches told by a wise man can help all of us. The story goes this way: “Either you are selected for the army or you are not. If you are not, you do not need to worry. If you are, you are sent to fight or not. If you are not, you do not need to worry. If you are, you are sent to the front line or not. If you are not, you do not need to worry. If you are, you are wounded or not. If you are not wounded, you do not need to worry. If you are, you are lightly or seriously
wounded. If you are lightly wounded, you do not need to worry. If you are seriously wounded, you either get well or you die. If you get well, you do not need to worry; if you die, you cannot worry. So why worry?

A Tibetan story tells of a meditation student who, while meditating in his room, believed he saw a spider descending in front of him. Each day the menacing creature returned, growing larger and larger each time. So frightened was the student, that he went to his teacher to report his dilemma. He said he planned to place a knife in his lap during meditation, so when the spider appeared he would kill it. The teacher advised him against this plan. Instead, he suggested, bring a piece of chalk to meditation, and when the spider
appeared, mark an “X” on its belly. Then report back.

The student returned to his meditation. When the spider again appeared, he resisted the urge to attack it, and instead did just what the master suggested. When he later reported back to the master, the teacher told him to lift up his shirt and look at his own belly. There was the “X”.